Farmers Receive $15 Billion in Aid as Midterm Campaign Intensifies

The Trump administration has committed $15 billion in new payments to agricultural producers in the weeks leading up to the midterm elections. The funds are designed to offset rising costs for diesel and fertilizer, expenses that have surged due to recent tariffs and the ongoing conflict with Iran.

More than half of the $15 billion will be distributed through a one-time payment plan for farmers affected by high fuel prices. In addition, the agency plans $13.8 billion in payments to cover shortfalls during the 2025 crop year for growers of corn, soybeans, wheat, and rice. Last year, tariffs increased the cost of other equipment, while a trade dispute with China led to a near boycott of U.S. agricultural goods.

President Donald Trump held closing rallies in Iowa and Kansas on Sunday. He spoke in Dubuque, Iowa, and Salina, Kansas, both states where he has historically won by wide margins. In Iowa, he told supporters that Republicans would elect “America first” candidates across the board. His speech lasted two hours, a duration even longer than his typical rallies.

Trump arrived late to his Kansas rally, where Air Force One performed a flyover before landing. He spoke for nearly 90 minutes at the outdoor airport event. Hundreds of attendees began leaving midway through his address, which concluded near 10 p.m. local time.

Democratic tensions escalated in Michigan on Sunday as party efforts to retake the Senate faced internal challenges. Haley Stevens, who lost the August primary to Abdul El-Sayed by a narrow margin, endorsed Republican Mike Rogers. Stevens made the announcement after attending a church service with Rogers in Detroit.

“Our Democratic nominee for Senate said I was no longer welcome in his campaign and that I should stay away,” Stevens said in a video. She noted that El-Sayed had uninvited her from a joint event held the same day. Her top aide resigned following the announcement.

El-Sayed dismissed the endorsement when speaking to reporters later on Sunday. He said he was focused on issues such as the high cost of living. “At the end of the day, I actually don’t think about Haley Stevens,” he said. He added, “None of this matters.”

In a separate development, the Justice Department defended a list containing more than 20,000 suspected noncitizens registered to vote in California. The department told a federal court that an immigrant rights group should face contempt charges for analyzing the data. U.S. District Court Chief Judge James Boasberg had previously allowed the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights access to the information for legal standing arguments, ordering them to keep names confidential.

The group filed a document on Saturday stating that over 40% of the individuals on the list did not appear in the state voter file. The filing also identified 22 people who were likely naturalized citizens. The Justice Department argued on Sunday that the analysis violated the court's order because it addressed legal standing rather than the data itself.

Trump is scheduled to deliver his final campaign speech on Monday afternoon at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington. The site is undergoing a costly and slow renovation. During a trip to Iowa on Sunday, Trump said the event would “show how beautiful it is.” The White House confirmed the schedule hours later, marking a departure from his monthlong tour of conservative states aimed at securing a Republican majority in Congress.